With a roster that can go no less than two deep at every position, the Shawnee State men's soccer program will look to start off its season with a bang as the Bears head to Florida for road contests against Ave Maria (Fla.) and Warner (Fla.) Thursday at 4 p.m. and Saturday at 5 p.m. respectively.

A quick breakdown of all three teams are below:

• The Bears return each of their top seven scorers from 2024 -- Nikos Pontikis, Marco Riva, Cameron Thompson, Theo Trindade, Joao Coqueti Leo, Alfie Maynard and Belo Bitencourt. Those seven players combined to post 26 goals and 14 assists in 2024.
• Toby Forsythe will be making his first career start in goal in his first game with the Bears. Forsythe is from Gahanna, a suburb of Columbus.
• Shawnee State returns 13 letterwinners and will have 13 newcomers in uniform for the 2025 season.

• Ave Maria, whom Shawnee State plays on Thursday, brings back its top four offensive threats -- sophomore midfielder Mateo Rolon, sophomore forward Sava Cadjenovic, senior midfielder Jael Parraga and junior forward Andre Betioli -- from 2024. The quartet nabbed 12 goals and five assists in 2024.
• Sophomore goalkeeper Andrija Vujakovic collected 86 saves and four shutouts for Ave Maria in 2024 and also returns for the 2025 edition of the roster.

• Warner, who Shawnee State plays on Saturday at 5 p.m., brings back its top three players offensively in senior forward Filip Mo, senior forward Vlad Andersen and senior midfielder Chad McAuliff. The trio combined for 16 goals and nine assists in 2024.
• Junior goalkeeper Wesley Lacy, who posted Warner's top goals against average in 2024 (2.08), also returns. Lacy made 51 saves and allowed 17 goals in nine games to post his 2.08 GAA last season.